Wonder what Belokon did with his £31 million

M61Exile

M61Exile

Well-known member
Someone at work was asking today what became of Belokon?
Walked away with £31 million - wonder if he'd fancy another dabble with a reputable owner?
 
I would imagine his ex wife got quite a chunk, that's even if he got the full amount, which is doubtful.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
I would imagine his ex wife got quite a chunk, that's even if he got the full amount, which is doubtful.
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He settled. Don't know about the ex-wife bit, but I'd imagine the BFC money wasn't a substantial part of his wealth. Unless the Court of Tellytubby took it all away.
 
Last I read, his banking interests were receiving some serious heat in the international courts. I'm eternally grateful that his action tipped the balance on the end of the Oyston years, but I suspect even if he wanted to return to football club ownership he might be disbarred these days.
 
Legend but disappointed that after all the BFC warriors who attended Court, he just seemed to disappear without much recognition of the support he got.

Please correct me if not true
 
He initially appeared to be interested in staying involved as a minority shareholder but the conviction in Krgyzstan was a big issue as it debarred him under the ODT as it was a custodial sentence ' in a court of competent jurisdiction ' which to be fair to the EFL they couldn't ignore
I know with CC's assistance he looked into trying to secure dispensation from the EFL but then an expensive divorce and issues in the Latvian banking sector put paid to that
I think his and a fair few other Latvian banks ended up being closed down under the US led clampdown - too many Russian roubles passing through them with insufficient checks I suspect
There would be no chance of EFL approval now
Still keep in touch with Kaspars Varpins though not spoken recently
 
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Mark_GT said:
Last I read, his banking interests were receiving some serious heat in the international courts. I'm eternally grateful that his action tipped the balance on the end of the Oyston years, but I suspect even if he wanted to return to football club ownership he might be disbarred these days.
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I wouldn’t be so sure about that. There have been some real arseholes who have paased the owners test in the last few years. Belekon, to whom I also will be eternally grateful, would be whiter than white compared to some of them.
 
Albert Ross said:
I wouldn’t be so sure about that. There have been some real arseholes who have paased the owners test in the last few years. Belekon, to whom I also will be eternally grateful, would be whiter than white compared to some of them.
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Agree there are and will continue to be some complete wrong uns taking interests in football. That elephant shooting shithouse Sam Kroenke who effectively owns Arsenal for starters. The Belekon money is long gone though and won't be coming back. When I visited Riga on a break after the famous judgement I did drop by his bank hq, and actually left a bottle of Highland Park 12 year old with reception as a thank you for a job well done. It would have been nice to have had the money invested back into the club too. For reasons outlined by TAM above that won't ever happen of course. We just have to accept it and move on.
 
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Ultimately brought down the Oystons so for that I am grateful but his investment in the club wasn’t for altruistic reasons. He was in it for a return (or other financial reasons)
 
Anyone who thinks he was in BFC for a return is well wide of the mark. The money he got was down to the incompetence of the main owners- had they kept him sweet the money would never have been taken out.

Bloke owned a bank, a brewery and god know's what else. BFC was smallfry to him- a likely nice diversion with opportunities beyond that.

The casino was likely a driver behind his involvement.

And if he was guilty of anything it was of being naive when dealing with OO, initially at least.
 
He owned a Russian newspaper, a sprat company, loads of others he had a share in, under belokon holdings. Are any operating now, hows the feeder club supplying Latvian talent to BFC. Did anyone taste that kimmel beer.
 
fcblackpool said:
Anyone who thinks he was in BFC for a return is well wide of the mark. The money he got was down to the incompetence of the main owners- had they kept him sweet the money would never have been taken out.

Bloke owned a bank, a brewery and god know's what else. BFC was smallfry to him- a likely nice diversion with opportunities beyond that.

The casino was likely a driver behind his involvement.

And if he was guilty of anything it was of being naive when dealing with OO, initially at least.
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We discussed that at the first meeting
He was very much an anglophile as you might have realised from his John Steed style clothes when interviewed by Jack
His answer was that he and OO shook hands and knew what the deal was
What we would call ' a gentleman's agreement '
To VB that was enough and to be honest that's how business should work
Thankfully Marcus Smith agreed despite OO's attempts to argue that what he accepted that he'd agreed wasn't binding on him
 
Mexboroseasider said:
And by way of balance here’s a report on the current human rights position in Kyrgyzstan.

www.hrw.org

World Report 2023: Rights Trends in Kyrgyzstan

www.hrw.org www.hrw.org
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You'd have to be a bit naive not to think that VB was a ruthless businessman, given where he made his money.

That said, that conviction in Kyrgyzstan was clearly state-sponsored. It was illuminating to see the speed at which Shaun Harvey and his acolytes used it to censure him though.

I always remember Oyston's QC standing up on Judgement Day and begging Sir Marcus (PBUH) not to make his financial award until the EFL had had an opportunity to discuss the Judgement at a meeting planned for about ten days after. To this day we have never been told whether that meeting actually took place, let alone what might have been said.

It has improved a lot since Harvey got his marching orders, but there is so much more that could have been done that hasn't.
 
basilrobbie3 said:
You'd have to be a bit naive not to think that VB was a ruthless businessman, given where he made his money.

That said, that conviction in Kyrgyzstan was clearly state-sponsored. It was illuminating to see the speed at which Shaun Harvey and his acolytes used it to censure him though.
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The Kyrgyz have been doggedly determined to get the money back that Maxim Bakiyev stole from their country and understandably so, I think it was the equivalent of a couple of percent of the GDP that ultimately went missing. Belokon's conviction was upheld in the Paris Court of Appeals, it's worth pointing out.
 
basilrobbie3 said:
You'd have to be a bit naive not to think that VB was a ruthless businessman, given where he made his money.

That said, that conviction in Kyrgyzstan was clearly state-sponsored. It was illuminating to see the speed at which Shaun Harvey and his acolytes used it to censure him though.

I always remember Oyston's QC standing up on Judgement Day and begging Sir Marcus (PBUH) not to make his financial award until the EFL had had an opportunity to discuss the Judgement at a meeting planned for about ten days after. To this day we have never been told whether that meeting actually took place, let alone what might have been said.

It has improved a lot since Harvey got his marching orders, but there is so much more that could have been done that hasn't.
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I believe Mr Harvey has been black balled at a local golf club…… some kind of karma?
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
We discussed that at the first meeting
He was very much an anglophile as you might have realised from his John Steed style clothes when interviewed by Jack
His answer was that he and OO shook hands and knew what the deal was
What we would call ' a gentleman's agreement '
To VB that was enough and to be honest that's how business should work
Thankfully Marcus Smith agreed despite OO's attempts to argue that what he accepted that he'd agreed wasn't binding on him
Click to expand...
to answer a previous point, i understand it was the former (tory) MP for wyre, harold elletson, that introduced the odious ones to VB.

as i recall, the concept of the 'gentleman's agreement' and what that realistically meant for the purposes of a favourable outcome for VB and us, could only be relevant if set in the context of the wider (and v complex) forensic evidence. it was thoroughly tested and knitted together brilliantly by QCs andrew green and fraser campbell; it was, quite frankly, compelling to watch. glad i was there to see it and the watertight judgment.

full marks to TAM for the john steed reference - one for the teenagers, no doubt. got this 7" single in my record collection :) :
new avengers.jpg
 
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eatmygoal said:
to answer a previous point, i understand it was the former (tory) MP for wyre, harold elletson, that introduced the odious ones to VB.

as i recall, the concept of the 'gentleman's agreement' and what that realistically meant for the purposes of a favourable outcome for VB and us, could only be relevant if set in the context of the wider (and v complex) forensic evidence. it was thoroughly tested and knitted together brilliantly by QCs andrew green and fraser campbell; it was, quite frankly, compelling to watch. glad i was there to see it and the watertight judgment.

full marks to TAM for the john steed reference - one for the teenagers, no doubt. got this 7" single in my record collection :) :
View attachment 17866
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Mexboroseasider said:
northwestbylines.co.uk

Two million stolen dollars that took Blackpool Football Club into the FA Premiership

Courts on three continents hammered Valeri Belokon for money laundering but a London high court judge awarded him £31.7mn
northwestbylines.co.uk northwestbylines.co.uk

Here’s an interesting article from 12 months ago.

The author is a long time collaborator of Owen Oyston.

And by way of balance here’s a report on the current human rights position in Kyrgyzstan.

www.hrw.org

World Report 2023: Rights Trends in Kyrgyzstan

www.hrw.org www.hrw.org
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Didn't Rosthorn write an article contending that Oyston was stitched up by the establishment on his rape conviction?
 
Hockaday’s Quiff said:
Born in Latvia. He’s as Latvian as Kimmel Beer 🍺
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He was a Russian speaking Latvian
After WW2 USSR populated the Baltic states with Russians to assimilate the population into the Soviet state
Valeri will have been second or third generation Latvian I suspect They make up about 25% of the population
Latvian and Russian are very different languages as they come from different language groups - a bit like English and Welsh / Gaelic
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
He was a Russian speaking Latvian
After WW2 USSR populated the Baltic states with Russians to assimilate the population into the Soviet state
Valeri will have been second or third generation Latvian I suspect They make up about 25% of the population
Latvian and Russian are very different languages as they come from different language groups - a bit like English and Welsh / Gaelic
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I worked in Eastern Europe quite a bit in the late 90's, they could all speak Russian ! I asked a Hungarian who could speak 7 languages why Russian(as they immediately told you they disliked them intensely) - he replied "because they made us"
 
The Baltic states have the potential for being incendiary. Russian minorities did very well and there is a lot of underlying resentment from the natives.

I remember being in Estonia with England away in Tallinn. All hell broke loose at about 4am in the next square to us and we all thought it was the usual England abroad problems. Then we looked around and all the usual idiots were in the square with us!
Turned out it was Estonians v Russian speakers going at it full tilt. Made a welcome change to be observers.
 
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